Friday, April 10, 2015

Seafood processor Sanford has linked warmer sea to the likely closure of its mussel plant employing 232 people in Christchurch.

Chief executive Volker Kuntzsch said higher ocean temperatures had affected the growth of its farmed mussels in the Marlborough Sounds and its supply of wild, young mussel spats that it harvests from other places for future stock.

All fishing companies operating along the northern South Island coastline were finding and growing fewer mussels and it seemed to be linked to different weather, he said.

New Zealand is highly dependent on the primary sector, and as the climate shifts, we're going to see more and more of this. Which is why we need a response a bit better than just twiddling the numbers to make the stats look good.